Mayor Rob Ford says “obviously” Toronto would get more money than any other Ontario city if it hosts a downtown casino.

“We’re the largest city so I think we deserve the lion’s share,” Ford told the Toronto Sun Friday.

Ford’s comments came the same day Premier Kathleen Wynne and Ontario Lottery and Gaming officials rushed to soothe other municipalities’ concerns Toronto would get a sweetheart deal if it bet on a multibillion-dollar casino development.

But Ford stressed Hogtown would want more money from the OLG than Niagara Falls or Windsor receives for hosting a casino.

“They're saying (the city’s revenue) is going to be $100 million, $150 million, $200 million — we’ll see,” Ford said. “I want to get (a casino) first and then we can talk about proposal second.”

The possibility of a casino creating “10,000 good-paying jobs” was the most important aspect for him, the mayor said.

OLG officials said in January Toronto’s hosting fee for a downtown or waterfront “destination facility” would be in the range of $50 million to $100 million.

“It’s not a special deal for Toronto because we have a consistent approach across the province but it does reflect the size and scale of the facility that we’d be talking about,” OLG president Rod Phillips said Friday.

“If there were other locations where private operators were interested in spending $2 billion to $3 billion of capital and employing upwards of 10,000 people then that same approach would apply.”

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson fired off a letter to OLG chairman Paul Godfrey Friday expressing his “strong disagreement” with the corporation creating a preferential revenue sharing formula for Toronto and threatening to withdraw from the process unless his city gets the same deal.

The Ottawa casino hosting fee is expected to between $5 million to $10 million.

“Our dealings with the OLG to date have been based on the good faith understanding that all Ontario municipalities would be treated the same after implementation of the OLG’s modernization plan,” Watson wrote. “I strongly disagree with the OLG’s suggestion that it is planning to introduce preferential revenue sharing for the City of Toronto that, by function, would discriminate against all other Ontario municipalities.”

Late in the day, Wynne issued a statement saying Toronto is not going to get a special deal from the OLG

“My government will ensure that all regions of the province will benefit from OLG modernization,” Wynne said.

Toronto’s casino debate is currently on hold until a city staff report is finished on the pros and cons of a gambling facility. The report was supposed to be done in time for Ford’s executive committee next week.

Premier denies Toronto would get special OLG deal for casino

Mayor Rob Ford says “obviously” Toronto would get more money than any other Ontario city if it hosts a downtown casino.

“We’re the largest city so I think we deserve the lion’s share,” Ford told the Toronto Sun Friday.

Ford’s comments came the same day Premier Kathleen Wynne and Ontario Lottery and Gaming officials rushed to soothe other municipalities’ concerns Toronto would get a sweetheart deal if it bet on a multibillion-dollar casino development.

But Ford stressed Hogtown would want more money from the OLG than Niagara Falls or Windsor receives for hosting a casino.

“They're saying (the city’s revenue) is going to be $100 million, $150 million, $200 million — we’ll see,” Ford said. “I want to get (a casino) first and then we can talk about proposal second.”

The possibility of a casino creating “10,000 good-paying jobs” was the most important aspect for him, the mayor said.